The present invention generally relates to exercise equipment. The invention is particularly concerned with an apparatus and method for exercising the muscles of the human abdomen.
There are numerous abdominal exercises which an individual may practice in order to decrease abdominal girth, strengthen the abdominal muscles and maintain abdominal muscle tone. Numerous health and fitness goals can be attained through a dedicated exercise regimen directed toward one""s abdominal muscles.
Known exercise apparatus and exercise methods directed towards the abdominal muscles have various disadvantages. Frequently, a particular exercise may be directed toward conditioning a large number of muscle groups such as those located in the arms, back, shoulders, chest and abdomen. Exercises attempting to condition multiple muscle groups provide insufficient focus on the abdominal muscles for effectively conditioning these muscles. Proper conditioning of abdominal muscles requires one to be able to move either the upper portion of the body while not moving the lower portion of the body or by moving the lower portion of the body while not moving the upper portion of the body. Either of these techniques enables one to specifically focus upon conditioning the abdominal muscles. Furthermore, known exercise devices and methods directed towards the abdominal muscles only allow abdominal muscles located in the front of the abdomen to be conditioned without being adjustable to allow for conditioning abdominal muscles located towards the sides of the abdomen, known as the obliques. Prior attempts at creating equipment for abdominal conditioning failed to be effective due to either motion of both the upper and lower portions of the body due to the overextension of either the upper or lower portions of the body, or due to an inability to be adjusted to properly focus on specific abdominal muscles or groups of muscles.
Also, known exercise apparatus and exercise methods directed towards conditioning abdominal muscles are uncomfortable and even dangerous to use. The lack of comfort originates from a lack of properly padded equipment. Also, the lack of comfort is from equipment whose proper use places the user in unnatural or contorted positions.
Still further, known exercise devices have the potential to be dangerous. These exercise devices are known to have hooks, straps, stirrups and other attachments which could injure the user. For example, some exercise devices have springs that may be stretched and exert a large amount of force on the hooks and connections of the springs to other components. If one of these connections or hooks were to fail under this load, both the failed hook and the spring could potentially injure a user or bystander.
Therefore, a need exists for an improved exercise apparatus and method. Such a system is needed which overcomes the previously described deficiencies of known exercise devices and methods. In particular, a need exists for an apparatus and method that provides a focused conditioning of the abdominal muscles and which eliminates hooks and interconnections for enhanced safety. A further need exists for an exercise apparatus that provides a focused conditioning of the human abdominal muscles that is comfortable and simple to use, compact and lightweight for ease of storage and transportation and relatively simple to construct. An additional need exists for an exercise apparatus that may be easily adjusted to condition the oblique abdominal muscles and for accommodating a wide variety of body sizes and that provides an effective and focused conditioning of the desired abdominal muscles in a relatively short amount of time.
In accordance with these needs, the present invention is generally realized in an apparatus for physical exercise which rests on a floor during operation and includes a movable support member which is slidably mounted on an elongate rail of a guide member. The guide member is pivotably mounted to a stationary base.
More particularly in an embodiment of the invention, the guide member is pivotably mounted to the stationary base with a removable hinge. The removable hinge between the guide member and the stationary base allows the guide member to be pivoted or rotated about an axis which passes through the removable hinge and which is substantially perpendicular to the floor during use of the present invention. Pivoting the guide member relative to the stationary base allows the user to condition the abdominal oblique muscles located towards the sides of the abdomen. Additionally, the removable hinge allows the guide member to be pivoted into a position above the stationary base to produce a compact apparatus for efficient storage.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the guide member includes two substantially parallel elongate rails. The two elongate rails are arranged such that the movable support member can engage the elongate rails while slidably traversing along the elongate rails in a direction which is generally parallel to the axes of the elongate rails.
In an embodiment, the movable support member includes opposite first and second outer lateral sides. The movable support member is slidably supported by said rails generally along these first and second outer sides.
Additionally, an embodiment of the invention involves an abdominal exercise method. The abdominal exercise method is comprised of the steps of providing an embodiment of the inventive abdominal exercise apparatus, and pivoting the guide member to the desired position relative to the stationary base. The abdominal exercise method can include the additional steps of placing the user""s knees in contact with a knee rest connected to the stationary base, grasping a movable support member slidably connected with a rail, and sliding the movable support member for abdominal exercise.
Therefore, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide an abdominal exercise apparatus.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an abdominal exercise apparatus that is comfortable and safe to use.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide an abdominal exercise apparatus which allows the user to move either their upper body or their lower body while holding the other stationary.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide an abdominal exercise apparatus that is compact and lightweight for ease of storage and transportation.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an abdominal exercise apparatus which is pivotally adjustable about an axis substantially perpendicular to the floor to facilitate exercise of the abdominal oblique muscles.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an abdominal exercise apparatus having a stationary base which can be configured for use as an aerobic step in conjunction with an aerobic step workout.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide an abdominal exercise apparatus that is easily adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of body sizes.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an abdominal exercise apparatus that provides effective and isolated conditioning of abdominal muscles in a relatively short time period.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide an improved method for exercising abdominal muscles. A related object is to provide such a method including moving a user""s upper body or lower body while holding the other stationary.
These and other features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent upon reading the following description of a preferred exemplified embodiment of the invention and upon reference to the accompanying drawings.